New book by The Peregrine Fund compiles research about little-known birds of prey in Central and South America

22 June 2012

BOISE, Idaho – The results of a decade-long project to study little-known birds of prey in Central and South America are now available in the latest book by The Peregrine Fund with important new information for birdwatchers and raptor experts around the world.

“Neotropical Birds of Prey: Biology and Ecology of a Forest Raptor Community” is published by Cornell University Press. It is edited by David F. Whitacre, with a foreword by J. Peter Jenny, president of The Peregrine Fund.

“This book is the culmination of an epic research undertaking that involved scores of individuals,” said Jenny, who participated in the initial research. “It laid the groundwork for much of the conservation, research, and education we continue to do throughout Central and South America.”

Jenny said that the information about breeding, diet, and habitat will enable experts to devise conservation plans for many rare species, including the Ornate Hawk-Eagle, Barred Forest-Falcon, Bat Falcon, and Mexican Wood Owl. Much of the original data stemmed from an eight-year study by The Peregrine Fund in Tikal National Park in Guatemala that compared tropical and temperate zone species.

Birds of prey are difficult to find and study in the dense rainforests of Central America, but the effort is deeply rewarding, Jenny said.

“The joy of working in the tropics is that information new to science is all around you, even the most basic information about the raptor community that remains,” Jenny said. “The tropics do not relinquish this knowledge without a fight, requiring a significant investment in good old-fashioned fieldwork.”

The 412-page hard-cover book is illustrated with photographs of each of the species in their native habitats. It may be ordered online from Cornell University Press and The Peregrine Fund.